Bio
Jeff Jarvis
Jeff Jarvis, a national leader in the development of online news, blogging, the investigation of new business models for news, and the teaching of entrepreneurial journalism, writes an influential blog, Buzzmachine.com. He is author of the books What Would Google Do?and Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age Improves the Way We Work and Live as well as the e-book Gutenberg the Geek. He has also consulted for media companies including the Guardian, Digital First Media, Postmedia, Sky.com, Burda, Advance Publications, and The New York Times company at About.com. Prior to coming to CUNY, Jarvis was president of Advance.net, the online arm of Advance Publications, which includes Condé Nast magazines and newspapers across America. He was the creator and founding managing editor of Entertainment Weekly magazine and has worked as a columnist, associate publisher, editor, and writer for a number of publications, including TV Guide, People, the San Francisco Examiner, the Chicago Tribune, and the New York Daily News. His freelance articles have appeared in newspapers and magazines across the country, including the Guardian, The New York Times, theNew York Post, The Nation, Rolling Stone, and BusinessWeek. Jarvis holds a B.S.J. from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He was named one of the 100 most influential media leaders by the World Economic Forum at Davos.
Paul Kontonis
Paul Kontonis is the Chairman of the International Academy of Web Television, an industry organization founded in 2009 and comprising of leaders in the field of web television, web video, and the digital entertainment industries and are the creators of the annual IAWTV Awards at the International CES. Paul’s industry leading voice includes his role as the Lead Advisor of Outrigger Media and OpenSlate, the leading platform and content quality score for connecting marketers with native digital video for advertising. As the former Vice President, Group Director, Brand Content for The Third Act, at Digitas, Paul helped establish the Digital Content NewFronts as the leading marketplace for connecting brands with original content opportunities and has executive produced dozens of original web series including successful branded entertainment for Global 100 brands. Paul authors numerous articles about online video, and is a speaker at several industry conferences and seminars annually.
Robert Tercek
Robert Tercek is one the pioneers of digital media, having launched the world's first computer games, multiplayer entertainment, interactive TV shows and mobile video. He has served in executive leadership roles at MTV, Sony Pictures and most recently as President of Digital Media at OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network where he supervised Oprah.com, the #1 women's destination on the web and the launch of the world's biggest online learning seminars. Today he is widely sought as a angel investor, digital media strategist and public speaker. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and a founding member of the Academy of Television Arts & Science's Interactive Media peer group.
Rishad Tobaccowala
Rishad Tobaccowala helps guide strategy and serves as a catalyst to innovation efforts across Vivaki - a Publicis Groupe entity that combines the collective scale, 70 Billion dollars of clout and 18,000 talented individuals sitting inside Big Fuel, Denuo, Digitas, Moxie, Performics, Razorfish, Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) and ZenithOptimedia. Working closely with brand CEOs and VivaKi Country Chairs, he helps VivaKi's companies show clients the way forward in an exciting and changing time for marketing.
Prior to his current role, Tobaccowala was CEO of Denuo - a Publicis Groupe company that invents, inspires and instigates new forms of creativity to help brands meet challenges of modern marketplaces.
Tobaccowala has also served as the Chief Innovation Officer of Publicis Groupe Media and was the founder and President of SMG Next, the first and most comprehensive futures practice in the media industry. The development of SMG Next resulted in the launch of several successful practices for SMG including: SMG Play, the first company to leverage videogames as a marketing platform; word-of-mouth practice Reverb; and Digits, a leader in mobile marketing. Tobaccowala was also responsible for developing SMG Search, a dedicated unit of SMG that specializes in leveraging search applications in new ways.
Before conceptualizing SMG NEXT, Tobaccowala was president and founder of SMG IP, the digital arm of SMG. As such, he played a central role in the agency, which was selected by Media in 2002 and 2004 as Interactive Agency of The Year.
In 1993, Tobaccowala formed Leo Burnett's Interactive Marketing Group. Between 1996 and 1999, he served as the President of Giant Step, Leo's interactive agency.
Tobaccowala was named by BusinessWeek as one of the top business leaders for his pioneering innovation (2005), and TIME magazine dubbed him one of five "Marketing Innovators". He was appointed to Advertising Age's Interactive Hall of Fame; named Adweek's 2000 Media All-Star for Interactive Media; and honored by OMMA as a Media Strategist All-Star in 2005. In 2008, he was named an industry legend by Ad Color, and in 2009, conferred an Industry Achievement award at ad:tech for long-term dedication and industry service. In 2011 Rishad received a lifetime achievement award from SAMMA (South Asians in Marketing, Media and Entertainment).
In addition to the VivaKi board, he serves on the board of directors for Recycle Bank. Previous board seats include Audience Science and Snap. He also serves as an advisor to a broad range of companies, including Greycroft Partners, House Party, Marketshare Partners, Bright Tag, Viewpoints, Edo Interactive, Visible Measures and the Berlin School of Creative Leadership.
Tobaccowala holds a bachelors degree in mathematics from the University of Bombay and an M.B.A. from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.
